Summer stirs the senses: we smell barbecues from our neighbors' lawns and salt air when we head down the shore. We hear sprinklers and laughing just as we feel cool breezes and sunburn stinging in the shower. As for taste, Madison residents have (literally) been enjoying the "fruits" of the Downtown Development Commission's labor for eighteen years at the Madison Farmers Market.

Beginning Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. on Waverly Place, the Farmers Market will take place there every Thursday until September. Showcasing local produce and other summer treats, what began as a plan to revitalize the downtown district has blossomed into a well-attended happening in Madison.

"Before we had done the market in the 80s, a report was done for the Downtown Commission talking about revitalizing the downtown. One of their suggestions was putting in a market," Main Street Executive Director Jim Burnet said.  "Our goal is, and continues to be, to promote the commercial district."

This year, after the market's run into September, the site will be moved from Waverly Place to the Staples Plaza for the month of October, where nearby Whole Foods will join in as a sponsor.

"We have plans to move the market... for a variety of reasons," Burnet said.  "Whole Foods wanted to create a branded special event, and we're in the process of working with them to get a special event for a kind of autumn festival. This is one way the DDC can give the East end some economic development."

Maureen Byrne is the Volunteer Chairperson of the Farmers Market Committee, and she noted the market's humble beginnings with a single grower to a multi-faceted celebration of fresh, local food.

"It started off very small, with just one farmer," Byrne said.  "We've grown to three farmers and then we have a variety of other vendors: a fish monger, we have a baker, we have 'Pickle-licious,' who does all sorts of great pickles. Tassot's Apiaries–they raise honey bees and they sell their honey at our market."

While farmers and vendors labor to get their goods out, it is volunteers like Byrne that get everyone organized and the event underway. 

"[Volunteers] get the vendors, they lay it out," Burnet said.  "They do the yeoman's job."

As for the farmers, they are all local to New Jersey, and though none of them operate shops in Madison, Carmine Vicchiano and his family live in town. Kurt Alstede and Peter Melick round out the lineup for this summer's market, and downtown shoppers may be able to purchase fresh and organic produce from Alstede by midsummer.

"They are working on getting their organic certification for a number of their fields," Byrne said.  "We're hoping by mid-July we can have organic produce."

Melick is located in nearby Chester and "he is a great farmer as well," Byrne said.  "He has great tomatoes and great produce.  He usually comes up with fresh flowers if you get there early."

Over the years that the market has been running, Byrne found that it is not only Madison shoppers who have been taking advantage of the tasty goods. Merchants too have reaped the benefit of the bustling scene.

"The merchants on Waverly Place have been very supportive. We think it's an excellent way to bring business down to Waverly Place. We hope people will not only shop the fruit and veggie stands but also take the time to go into the shops on Waverly Place."

As it turns out, Madison shoppers are not the only ones cooking corn or slicing tomatoes. Byrne noted that the produce sold at the market has been featured in at least one Madison restaurant.

"There is a restaurant in town called Resto," she said.  "The other is Rob's Bistro, and the owner of those restaurants comes down to the market every Thursday and buys produce for the weekend meals at his restaurants. He purchases locally and develops menus from what's freshest at the market that week."

Whether you are young or old, a chef or a foodie, there are plenty of vendors to satisfy plenty of tastes at the Madison Farmers Market.